MovieChat Forums > The Man in the High Castle (2015) Discussion > Some easy questions for attentive viewer...

Some easy questions for attentive viewers


I have a hard time following the japanese/MitHC movies- plot
and basically only watch with full interest on the nazi figures and thematic (educationally)

Who is the 'man' in the high castle?
What are those movies and where do they come from?
That japanese minister seems to be in a parallel universe/real world 60's all of the sudden?
What is the center of events that chains all this together?
Do you actually believe people in the 3rd Reich and even highrank Nazis, were suggested/forced to kill
their own children if they had a physical disability? Or wounded soldiers and veterans
or anyone who suffered an accident, too?

On his way down past each floor,
he kept saying to reassure himself
So far so good...

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The premise of the story is that there are multiple alternate universes and some people have the ability(though it's often something that happens involuntarily rather than a skill) to go to another, similar universe if their counterpart there is dead.

The films come from those other universes or realities where the same basic events played out differently. One of them seems to be ours, or so close as to be indistinguishable. Tagomi was a Japanese immigrant to the US in that world. The Allies won the war and his wife is still alive. They have a son who married alternate universe Julianna.

He didn't like this and eventually killed himself after a family argument(jumped off the bridge), but his body was never found nor did Juluanna who was following him and trying to get him to calm down actually see him do it. So he isn't officially dead, and when his alternate self comes to their house, they think he had just moved out and his wife wants a divorce.

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thanks for explaining.

wow, that does sound overly complicated and esoteric -
or even metaphysical -
for such a bad and boldly propagandistic series.

On his way down past each floor,
he kept saying to reassure himself
So far so good...

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bad and boldly propagandistic series


Who do you think is making propaganda and for what purpose?

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Wow that was a overly complicated and esoteric way of calling the show propaganda, save the child like questions and just say you don't like it.

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wow, that does sound overly complicated and esoteric -
or even metaphysical -
for such a bad and boldly propagandistic series.


Maybe you should try reading the Phillip K. Dick novel first. It's a science fiction classic that I first read 35 +/- years ago, and re-read a couple of years ago when I heard they were making the TV series.

Granted, the show is only very loosely based on the novel (the premise, some basics about a few of the characters, plus a few other thematic details), but maybe you will get an idea of what the story is about, rather than calling it "propaganda".

I'm not saying someone NEEDS to read Dick's novel first to understand and enjoy the TV series (because I personally don't think it's a requirement -- plus the novel has a very different plot than the TV series, even if they share a common general premise), but since you seem to be confused about some of the basics of what series is attempting to depict, the novel might be of value to you.

As for Tagomi suddenly being in "our world" rather than his own, he is able to travel between the different realities through meditation. That's quite different than the novel. There was a time when Tagomi experienced our universe, but not to the extent as in the TV series. Also, other characters in the book have different motivations than their TV series counterparts, and do things differently in the book than in the TV series.

Another major difference in the book is that there are no films made by the Man in the High Castle that depict alternate universes. Instead, an alternate universe is described in a novel (a novel within the novel) titled "The Grasshopper Lies Heavy", written by Hawthorne Abendsen (The Man in the High Castle), a popular book which many of the characters in the Pacific States are reading, but has been banned by the German Reich. Abendsen, like Tagomi, saw glimpses of this alternate universe through meditations with the I Ching and wrote about what he saw in that fictional novel.

That novel-within-the-novel is what depicts the different universe, because "The Grasshopper Lies Heavy" is a novel about an alternative history (alternative to them) in which the Allies won WWII instead of the Germans and Japanese. However, the alternate universe depicted in "The Grasshopper Lies heavy" is not really "our" reality either, aside from Japan and Germany losing the war. There are still differences between it and our reality.

But "propaganda"? I think you need to explain that a bit more for me to understand what you mean by that.

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So Tagomi committed suicide because his son married Juliana? Wtf ?!? Why?!

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Abendsen (the titular Man in the High Castle) says that he's observed different versions of the same person in different universes and they often differ considerably in terms of character.

I guess that version of Tagomi had serious problems with interracial marriage. He probably didn't kill himself just because of Juliana, though, but because in the very intense arguments about the situation he lost his sense of power and status in his family. Maybe he was looked down on by other Japanese guys his age, too, or was afraid he would be.

We don't know the whole story, but the little that's there gives a very tragic picture of a person who can't deal with change and conflict. I thought the idea of the Tagomi we know being able to step into that life and do things right was so beautiful and almost cried when he had to leave again.

I hope he ends up there for good in the end.

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I didn't catch where they said the counterpart had to be dead. Was this stated or do you assume this? I wondered what would happen if two counterparts actually met.

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You're right that it wasn't explicitly stated. Some people think it's implied by Tagomi's story.

Now I hope I'm wrong. It would be interesting to see interactions between counterparts or have them change places.

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The man in the high castle is someone who knows about the alternate realities and has been collecting films that people bring back from them. He then sends selected films to people who might be able to use them to make a more peaceful world. We don't know anything about his personal history or how he came to be doing this work.

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whoah you nailed it!

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I have a hard time following the japanese/MitHC movies- plot
and basically only watch with full interest on the nazi figures and thematic (educationally)


Educationally? This isn't a documentary, it's science-fiction television show about a deviation in history that would have started over 70 years ago. Any depiction of Nazi figures in this alternate reality is purely speculative.

And since it's not being represented as fact, it can hardly be called propaganda (as you mention in another post).

It's your motive for this post that is highly suspect.

Brevity is the soul of wit.

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Yes, with educationally i meant to study the disinformative and manipulative
subliminal conditioning in most movies and shows nowadays.


On his way down past each floor,
he kept saying to reassure himself
So far so good...

reply

Yes, with educationally i meant to study the disinformative and manipulative
subliminal conditioning in most movies and shows nowadays.

Compared to when?

Brevity is the soul of wit.

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